Note that the same form of the adjective is used for the relative and absolute comparisons. It's the prefix, níos or is, that makes the difference. Also note that the comparison is expressed differently for the past tense. (We're only going to worry about the present tense in this thread.)

The most common structures for comparing things are:Is comparative X ná Y X is ___er than Y.Tá X níos comparative ná Y X is ___er than Y.Is X an Z is comparative X is the ___est Z.

You may have notice something unusual about that first structure. I said earlier that is is used for absolute comparisons, where we use the '-est' ending in English, but I translate the first structure using an "-er" ending. You probably remember your English teacher saying that you compare two things using "-er"; that "-est" could only be used with three or more things. However, Irish doesn't have this rule. A sentence such as Is í an tsúil chlé an tsúil is láidre literally means "My right eye is the strongest eye", where in English we would say "My right eye is the stronger eye." So in short, don't worry about it.

One final comment about the first and third structures. The copula, is, can never be followed directly by a definite noun or a proper noun; you need to insert é, í or iad. If you're not ready to deal with that, don't worry. Just stick with the second structure.

So let's look at some examples of how to make comparisons.

Tá an madra mór. The dog is big.Tá an madra níos mó ná an cat. The dog is bigger than the cat.(Notice how ná is used for "than".)Sin an madadh is mó. That is the biggest dog.

Tá an aimsir fuar. The weather is cold.Tá an aimsir níos fuaire anois. The weather is colder now.